The public reaction to the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Vatican and Roman Catholic churches worldwide is causing rank-and-file Catholics to leave the church in droves. But concerned parents need to be wary about more than just the Catholic brand of clergy. The public rightly became disenchanted with an institution that claims moral authority while acting like those who it would condemn for their immoral behaviors.
The trend of less-than-holy behavior is not limited to the Catholic Church, although they have received the majority of the media's attention and the public's criticism. Recent cases such as that of Pastor Tony Alamo, who was convicted of abusing several young children and forced the government to remove children at his ministry from their negligent parents, shows that sexual abuse exists in different religious communities. It appears as though many institutions that have a tradition of powerful clerics that guide the community also suffer from allegations of child sexual abuse. This situation is often worsened when the religious institutions attempt to handle the matter internally by trying the offenders in a religious court instead of reporting the abuse to secular authorities.
Take for instance the allegations of sexual abuse in several Hasidic Jewish communities, where young boys were routinely abused at religious schools and community gatherings. These children weren't able to come forward with their allegations for years because they feared being cast out from the religious community for accusing one of their "holy" leaders of such a despicable crime. When the boys finally did come forward the rabbis were tried in an ecclesiastical court, much like the Catholic priests who were accused of similar crimes. These courts exonerated the rabbis of their crimes and halted efforts to pursue secular justice against the offenders.
Sexual abuse of children is seen in other religions that emphasize a strong clergy and utilize religious courts, such as in Islam and the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In Pakistan there are many allegations regarding sexual abuse of children in Islamic religious schools called madrassas. This abuse of children is not widely discussed by the victims, as the religious community routinely shuns those who come forward and "dishonors" their religious leaders. The same situation occurs with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, whose leaders are accused of wide-spread sexual abuse of children. American Southern Baptist churches also suffer from the same problem, as a bishop was recently accused of abusing a group of young boys in his mega-church. It appears as though these different religious communities, all of whom abide by distinctly different scriptures, share common ground in their efforts to silence victims of sexual abuse through marginalization and exclusion from the community.
Sexually repressive religions suffer numerous allegations of sexual abuse, which makes sense when you consider the effect that their scripture might have on normal sexual behavior. Statements such as "I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28) and the emphasis by religions on abstaining from sex until marriage creates a repressive sexual environment that prevents healthy discussions about sexuality. This repression of sexuality discourages victims of sexual abuse from discussing the traumatic event because of the emphasis by the religious community on refraining from discussing sexual matters.
Sexual abuse occurs not only because of the specifics of a sexually repressive religious doctrine, but because the leaders of the religious community are given extraordinary power over their followers and are nearly immune to prosecution for their crimes because of the emphasis by those religious communities on handling criminal matters in religious courts. This method of self-prosecution is an obvious conflict of interest, as the community will be less to pursue any action that embarrasses the faith, even if such inaction comes at the expense of justice for the victims.
As human beings, we must feel for the plight of the victims and work to ensure that religious courts have no legal authority to protect criminal behavior. Victims of sexual abuse should not be ostracized or marginalized; rather, they should receive support and legal justice for the crimes that have been committed against them. Religious leaders are never above the law, no matter what faith they hail from, no matter their claims of moral superiority. Their "moral authority" does not grant them permission to do what they please, especially when they use that authority to silence their victims.
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Eishes Chayil: Orthodox Jewish Child Abuse: Shattering a Traumatic Silence
Catholic sex abuse cases - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP
Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church
Clergy Sex Abuse Victims File International Court Case Against ...
- Priests rape children by the tens of thousands
- Bishops move them around
- The whole hierarchy covers it up
- They lie about it
- They fight, disparage or ignore the victims when they come forward
- The remaining congregation will fight the victims just like their bishops.
The Catholic congregation simply doesn't care enough about pedophile priests to do anything about it.
No other religion has anything like this on this scale. Catholics follow their "false idols" and not their God.
No clergyman or any other kind of authority figure should be put on a pedestal by any one; we're all human and people on pedestals have an annoying way of falling off. Just look at Tiger Woods. I think we should also be focusing on the oblivious parents who often let this sort of thing go on right under their noses - it's not all a clergy problem
Shouldn't we change whatever law (written or unwritten) that allows this to happen? wouldn't that go a long way toward discouraging pedophiles from becoming clergy and thus having unrestrained access to and control of children with no fear of repercussions?
Not a word about the epidemic of sexual abuse in public schools.
How very odd.
So is environmentalism.
There is no epidemic of sexual abuse in public schools. If there is, show a legitimate online source. All Catholics use your defense, and no one ever has a legitimate source because it doesn't exist. Its a Catholic distraction.
Mostly, public schools have never covered it up. Catholics have covered it up forever, and that IS very odd.
Try this link
http://legalclips.nsba.org/?tag=pass-the-trash
Especially like this sub-link, where the GAO finds sexual abuse by public schools and subsequent hiding of the abuse to be a NATIONAL problem.
http://legalclips.nsba.org/?p=3707
According to a report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education, in compliance with the 2002 "No Child Left Behind" act signed into law by President Bush, between 6 percent and 10 percent of public school children across the country have been sexually abused or harassed by school employees and teachers.
Here's The Economist on the New York habit of "passing the trash" - covering up teacher sexual abuse
http://www.economist.com/node/1067027
Money Quote:
A 1995 study of 225 cases in which pupils were sexually abused by teachers or other staff members found that in only 1% of the cases did the school-district superintendent attempt to revoke the culprit's teaching licence.
Education Week ran a six-part story on it in 1998, with an update in 2003.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/collections/apsexabuse/index.html
Here's a DOE synthesis study
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/research/pubs/misconductreview/report.pdf
That's what I found on Google in 60 seconds.
There is a lot more.
Just google "passing the trash sexual abuse public schools"
or
"sexual abuse public schools"
Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of hits.
"A female political activist and former parliamentary candidate has recommended the introduction of legislation to legalize the provision of enslaved female concubines for Muslim men in Kuwait in a bid, she says, to protect those men from committing adultery or corruption.
The activist, Salwa Al-Mutairi, suggested apparently seriously in a video broadcast online that she had been informed by some clerics that affluent Muslim men who fear being seduced or tempted into immoral behavior by the beauty of their female servants, or even of those servants 'casting spells' on them, would be better to purchase women from an 'enslaved maid' agency for sexual purposes."
(http://www.freethoughtnation.com/contributing-writers/63-acharya-s/541-female-activist-muslim-men-need-sex-slaves-to-keep-from-committing-adultery.html)
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, where abusers are sheltered, coddled, protected, and promoted.
On the contrary: Buddhist monks in Japan have been struggling with pederasty for centuries. You can't blame that on 'Abrahamism'.
1. Report to the police or child protective agencies any abuse of suspected abuse. Even suggested abuse is sufficient to report.
2. Eliminate any restrictions on the statue of limitations on sexual abuse of children. Most victims of child sexual abuse takes decades to realize, understand and face the abuse they suffered as a child. It took me over 30 years to remember the rape and abuse I suffered by a catholic priest.
3. If you have suffered sexual abuse as a child, or know someone who has, I encourage you to take the courageous step of reporting it to the police even if decades old. The abuser may still be in ministry.
4. I suggest seeking professional counseling.
5. And contact the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org) of which I am a member. They are an international organization of survivors of clergy abuse who sponsor local support groups throughout the US. While it has the word priests in the title all victims of clergy abuse are welcomed. You are not alone,.
I am a local leader of SNAP in San Francisco.
Tim Lennon
The only solution that I see offering any hope of changing attitudes with an eye toward minimizing victim impact is the elimination of religious sexual repression. Religious people who cover their golden calf with a plain brown cover with "Holy Bible" printed on it are, as a practical matter, doing as much harm as good. When narrowed to the area of sexuality, I'd say that, for all their efforts claiming the contrary, they're doing more harm than good.